This past weekend marked the third annual Atlantic City Food & Wine Festival, featuring numerous events that showcased the talents of Food Network and Cooking Channel personalities like Sunny Anderson, Guy Fieri, Robert Irvine and The Neelys. With over 30 events, cooking demos and seminars to choose from, I certainly had my hands full. However, over the course of four days, these five moments struck a chord and were most memorable:

2. Guy’s Big Bite Brunch: Fans of this Food Network star definitely got their money’s worth with these tickets — a seven-course menu included Steak and Eggs, French Toast and Pretzel Crusted Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Along with unlimited Bloody Marys and Mimosas, the crowd left happy as they laughed at Guy’s jokes and anecdotes.

3. Listening to Gary Clark, Jr. sing and play the guitar while eating The Neelys’ Fried Chicken served at Blues, Brews and BBQ.

4. Before listening to Sunny Anderson serenade Pat Neely with “Happy Birthday” at Sweet & Stylish on Saturday night (Happy Belated, Pat), I was relaxing with her and several of the Food Network Star contestants on the roof-top of Caesar’s while eating some of the best sliders I’ve ever had.

5. Meeting the Tough Cookies crew and trying Crazy Susan’s classic turtle cookie for the first time (pictured above). Can you say addictive?

Was there….did not get to all the events….thought Sunny's "Sunset Sliders" was terrific! Sunny is warm and engaging, and played the crowd….she did a GREAT job! And, to top it off, the Food Network Star contestants all showed up….and did their best to say hello to everyone. Was a great event!

Will go back next year (this year was there by chance…bought concert tickets for Friday night…later saw this was going on, so bought tix for 4 events)…and will definitely get to one of Guy's events…and hope Sunny has the same event too!

I traveled with two other friends this past weekend all the way from
the far Northwestern corner of New Jersey (Sussex County) to attend
the Big Kick Off Party. I wanted to share with you and the others my
utter dissatisfaction as to what I considered egregious.

After traveling over 3 hours to get to Atlantic City, paying my ticket
admission and surcharge,and the round trip taxi ride ($30) from and to
the Tropicana, I was able to see only one of the four Food Network
Stars. That celebrity was Sunny Anderson. The DJ announced her and
she was somewhat accessible despite the Restaurant Staff (Chefs)
pulling her in various directions, that she had little genuine time
for the general public.

Now, there was a Guy Fieri look alike walking around but it was
obvious he was not THE Guy Fieri. As for the Neelys and Robert
Irvine, they were no where to be seen either and my friends and I
split up several times in search of the "Stars". The three of us left
at 1:00 a.m. and were utterly disappointed because past experiences
with the Food Network F/W Festivals were always good. Our expectation
was not only the Food and Wine but also the celebrities themselves.

In addition, while my friends and I sat on one of the sofas inside one
of the "cabanas" near the pool, my friend felt something crawling on
her foot. After jerking her foot suddenly, she saw there were two
cockroaches on the floor and one still stuck to her foot/sandal. I
mean, really, that was absolutely disgusting. During the course
of my work I'm well aware what cock roaches look like,
and I can assure you, that is exactly what they were. We did not
sit or stand in one spot for very long the rest of the evening, except
on the roof top.

I like food network, but why are there not more African American chefs on your network. There are some brilliant chefs out there, it seems like there is some problem here, there should be more representation on the network!

I have become disappointed with the Food Network. It is no longer geared toward us foodies. I hate the overuse of contestant and competition shows. Lets get back to real chef shows with real food. Hasn't been the same since Emeril Live.

I have to agree with Alicia. I watch food network to see cooking and to learn different ideas. I am just not interested in all of the garbage on the network anymore. Please get back to cooking not racing and seeing who can eat the hottest dishes. Boring.

Guy Fieri's cheese steak battle was a blast! I got to co-host the event and interview all the cheese steak competitors! I felt like the Erin Andrews of cheese steaks haha. I hope everyone there had as much fun as I did! :)

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